? 


(fV 

A    TRUE 


STATEMENT  OF  FACTS, 


IN   REPLV    TO 


BY 

MESSRS.  CHARLES  BARBELL,  HENRY  F.  BARRELL, 
£KORCE  BARRKLL,  and  SAMUEL  B.  BARRF.LL. 


BOSTON : 

PRJXTED    BT    JOHN    EJ.IOT 

1816. 


SRLE 


STATEMENT. 


I  AM  deeply  impressed  with  the  impropriety  of  asking 
the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  private  concerns  of  indi- 
viduals, and  especially  family  disputes ;  and  had  the  pam- 
phlet which  has  lately  been  distributed  by  the  Messrs. 
Barrells,  with  an  intent  to  injure  me,  been  confined  to 
the  limits  of  this  town,  where  I  was  born  and  educated, 
and  have  resided,  and  where  my  character  is  generally 
known,  I  should  certainly  have  refrained  from  noticing  it; 
but  as  they  have  given  it  a  very  extensive  circulation 
throughout  this  State,  and  in  other  States  also,  an  answer 
has  become  incumbent  upon  me ;  no  apology,  therefore, 
I  presume,  is  necessary.     The  public  having  heard  par- 
tially, their  sense  of  justice  and  propriety  will  induce 
o  them  to  hear  further  before  they  finally  judge. 
^       I  am  somewhat  at  a  loss  how  to  commence  my  answer 
|   to  this  pamphlet.      In  looking  over  it,  I  do  not  find  any 
£   one  specific  charge  of  dishonesty,  fraud,  or  want  of  integ- 
^   rity.     True  it  is  I  am  loaded  with  the  vilest  epithets,  and 
,    the  deepest  curses  of  heaven  are  called  down  upon  me  ; 
^   even  the  reputation  of  Mrs.  Joy  has  not  been  regarded 

by  these  young  men,  her  brothers.     They  could  destroy,  j 
«   it  seems,  her  character  "  with  equal  facility"  as  mine, 
>-  but  with  their  great  "  leniency"  they  forbear.     To  these 
,   epithets,  these  curses,  and,  above  all,   to  the  "  leniency" 
*}  of  these  young  men,  the  respect  I  owe  the  public,  and 
'-J  that  which  I  owe  myself,  forbids  a  single  word ;    in   a 
S  very  different  temper  I  do  assure  them  I  shall  perform 
}  the  task  they  have  thrown  upon  me.     I  consider  this 
whole  business  by  no  means  trifling  in  its  consequences. 
I  am  well   aware    I    am  at  the  head  of  a  family,  and 
have  not  many  years  to  live  ;  that  I  have  a  deep  respon- 
sibility upon  me.    I  consider  myself  not  so  devoted  to 


»• 


property  as  to  give  up  character  for  it,  and  I  ana  dee 
impressed  with  the  truth  that  the  judgment  of  the  tribu- 
nal I  am  now  before,  involves  the  future  happiness  of 
myselfand  family,  and  every  thing  I  esteem  dear  in  life : 
I  therefore  premise  that  any  assertions  which  I  make  in 
this  appeal  will  not  be  hastily  made,  and  upon  the  truth 
of  which  I  shall  be  perfectly  willing  to  stand  or  fall* 

The  complaints  against  me  appear  to  be  vague  and 
indefinite  in  their  nature.  They  relate  principally  to 
my  injudicious  management  in  not  selling  the  property 
which  was  conveyed  to  me  by  Mr.  Barrell,  in  due  season  ; 
procrastination  in  the  settlement  and  exhibition  of  my 
accounts;  and  in  making  verbal  declarations  which  do 
not  finally  prove  correct.  The  answers  to,  and  the  ex- 
planation of  these  charges,  which  I  have  repeatedly  giv- 
en to  these  young  men,  I  will  now  state  by  a  plain  and 
simple  recital  of  facts,  and  a  developcment  of  my  tran- 
sactions in  these  concerns,  and  with  this  family,  from  their 
commencement  to  the  present  day. 

I  conceive  it  will  not  be  thought  improper  for  me  to 
say,  that  on  my  arrival  in  this  country,  from  India,  in  Oc- 
tober^ 1795, 1  was  an  unembarrassed  man.  I  had  a  per- 
fect competency,  and  was  indebted  to  no  one.  I  had  an 
active  property  to  the  amount  of  upwards  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  without  a  single  person  dependant 
on  me.  In  consequence  of  the  very  deep  and  ruinous 
speculations  which  Mr.  Barrell  made  in  the  Virginia 
lands,  the  Western  Reserve  lands,  the  Georgia  lands, 
and  French  estates,  in  the  Middlesex  Canal  and  some 
Bridges,  and  in  a  very  expensive  establishment  at  Pleas- 
ant Hill,  he  became  much  pressed  for  money,  and  before 
I  was  connected  in  his  family,  he  applied  to  me  for  a  con- 
siderable loan.  I  lent  Him  the  sum  I  then  had  on  hand, 
in  cash,  which  was  seven  thousand  dollars,  as  will  appear 
by  his  books.  I  married  Mrs,  Joy  in  1797,  and  before 
the  close  of  the  year  1799,  having  been  induced  by  him 
on  the  failure  of  Barrell  and  Hoskins,  and  on  other  occa- 
sions, to  endorse  his  notes,  I  was  obliged  to  take  them  up; 
and  having  also  been  called  to  satisfy  other  demands  and 
executions  against  him,  his  debt  to  me  for  my  advances, 
and  interest  thereon,  amounted  to  nearly  fifty-nine  thou- 


sand  dollars  ;  this  also  will  appear  from  his  books,  and  pa- 
pers in  his  own  hand.  In  this  same  year, in  consequence 
of  this  debt  and  of  a  conditional  engagement  made  by  me, 
in  his  behalf,  with  Jones.  Jeffery  and  Russell,  Mr.  Barrell 
gave  me  absolute  conveyances  of  the  principal  part  of  his 
real  and  personal  estate,  unaccompanied  by  any  stipula- 
tions or  agreement  whatever.  It  is  very  probable  that 
Mr.  Barrell,  from  the  relation  in  which  I  stood  to  him, 
and  from  the  course  of  my  conduct,  already  witnessed 
toward  him.  conceived,  that,  if  by  the  management  and 
disposal  of  this  property,  according  to  my  best  judgment 
and  discretion,  on  which  he  was  willing  to  rely,  I  should 
be  able,  after  indemnifying  myself,  to  realize  any  residue, 
it  would  be  readily  applied  to  the  benefit  of  himself  and 
family.  Such  has  ever  been  my  disposition ;  such  was 
probably  his  confidence.  With  this  unexpected  and  hea- 
vy debt  already  incurred,  at  his  pressing  solicitation,  I 
continued  my  advances,  which,  with  other  disbursements 
and  assessments  incident  to  the  property  and  indispensa- 
ble to  prevent  its  sacrifice,  increased  my  demand  against 
him,  at  his  death,  in  1804.  to  the  sum  of  ninety-tAvo  thou- 
sand dollars  and  upwards.  I  would  here  beg  the  head- 
er's attention  to  an  observation  I  am  now  about  to  make, 
that  this  sum  of  ninety-  two  thousand  dollars,  and  those 
for  which  I  had  become  answerable,  every  species  of 
property  that  ever  did  belong  to  Mr.  Barrell,  then  remain- 
ing in  my  hands,  unaccounted  for,  if  sold  on  any  reasonable 
terms  of  cash  or  credit,  would  not  have  been  sufficient  to 
discharge  at  this  time  ;  or  in  other  Avords,  Mr.  Barrell  at 
the  day  of  his  death  did  not  leave  one  single  farthing  of 
property.  It  is  true  that  Pleasant  Hill,  so  called,  had  cost 
about  forty  eight  thousand  dollars;  and  seventy  seven 
shares  in  the  Middlesex  Canal  about  forty  four  thousand 
dollars,  besides  interest ;  yet  it  is  equally  true  that  the  one 
would  not  produce  one  half,  and  the  other  not  one  fourth 
of  their  cost.  The  Georgia  lands,  the  Virginia,  Eastern,  and 
Ohio  lands,  and  the  French  estates,  were  not  of  great 
value.  \Y  hat  then  would  have  been  proper  for  me  to  have 
done  ?  Would  it  have  been  unreasonable  or  unkind  to 
have  withheld  any  further  advances  ?  to  have  stated  to 
his  family  their  situation,  the  very  great  extent  to  which 


0 

I  had  already  involved  myself,  and  my  inability  to  pro- 
ceed further  ?  I  did  no  such  thing  :  On  the  contrary  I 
immediately  took  on  myself  the  care,  support,  and  ex- 
pence  of  his  whole  family,  consisting  of  his  widow  and 
six  sons,  and  the  widow  of  his  son  and  her  four  children. 
I  provided  for  their  different  establishments,  and  have 
been  educating  some,  supporting  and  paying  for  them 
all,  from  that  day  to  the  present.  For  Mrs.  Barrell,  for 
her  support,  maintenance  and  other  expences,  I  have 
been  regularly  called  upon,  and  still  continue  so  to  be. 
With  her  own  consent  she  retired  to  the  pleasant  town 
of  Weathcrsfield,  in  Connecticut,  the  place  of  her  birth, 
and  has  there  boarded  with  her  own  brother,  Colonel 
Webb,  associating  with  the  most  respectable  characters 
of  the  place  with  apparent  satisfaction  and  contentment; 
all  which  I  draw  from  her  letters,  expressing  her  grati- 
itude  towards  Mrs.  Joy  and  myself,  and  her  perfect  ap- 
probation of  our  conduct  towards  her.  The  two  eldest 
sons  I  established  in  business  when  they  were  of  age,  by 
becoming  generally  answerable  for  their  credits,  have 
constantly'  endorsed  their  paper,  and  am  at  this  moment 
answerable  for  them  at  the  bank,  and  have  been  partial- 
ly called  upon  for  the  board  of  one  of  them,  and  for  oth- 
er expences  to  this  day.  For  Samuel  B.  Barrell,  though 
I  have  paid  for  a  liberal  education  for  him,  and  he  is  now 
twenty-six  years  of  age,  I  have  been  at  a  continual  ex- 
pence,  amounting  at  this  time,  with  simple  interest,  to 
above  three  thousand  seven  hundred  dollars.  This 
Samuel  B.  Barrell,  who  has  been,  as  I  believe,  the  prin- 
cipal, if  not  sole  agent  in  this  shameful  persecution,  this 
public  indefinite  calumniator  of  a  lady,  and  that  lady  his 
sister,  through  "leniency"  avoiding  to  particularize,  leav- 
ing thereby  to  be  imputed  to  her,  by  those  who  should 
happen  not  to  know  her,  any  crime  of  any  dye ;  this  same 
young  man  has  had  the  meanness,  for  I  can  call  it  by  no 
other  name,  since  this  month  of  October,  to  send  to  me 
to  pay  a  bill  for  his  board  to  the  amount  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  dollars.  All  the  children  of  Mr.  Barrel! 
I  have  brought  forward  ;  they  have  looked  up  to  rne  for 
support,  and  have  received  it;  and  to  each  of  them  I 
have  been  furnishing  money,,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  ab- 


stract  subjoined  at  the  close  of  this  pamphlet,  until  my 
cash  advances  amount  for  the  family  to  at  least  twelve 
thousand  eight  hundred  eighty-eight  dollars,  exclusive 
of  any  interest ;  add  the  simple  interest  and  it  will  ex- 
ceed, since  Mr.  Barrell's  death,  seventeen  thousand  one 
hundred  fifty  dollars.  These  young  men  have  dared  to 
say  that  this  helpless  family  was,  by  their  father,  com- 
mitted to  my  charge,  and  that  I  promised  to  take  care  of 
them.  This  is  an  absolute  untruth;  not  a  word  of  the 
kind,  or  any  other  relating  to  his  family,  ever  passed  be- 
tween Mr.  Barrell  and  myself;  and  the  manner  of  his 
death  is  a  confirmation  of  my  assertion.  He  lived  in 
Charlestown  and  enjoyed  unusual  good  health;  he  went 
to  bed  as  well  as  he  had  been  for  many  years  ;  on  rising 
in  the  morning  he  was  suddenly  seized,  and  complained 
of  difficulty  of  breathing,  and  before  he  could  dress  him- 
self his  life  departed  from  him.  Since  the  decease  of 
Mr.  Barrell,  payments  for  which  I  was  answerable,  and 
other  disbursements  of  the  same  incidental  and  indispen- 
sable nature  arising  out  of  the  kind  of  property  held, 
will  exceed  the  sum  of  twenty-four  thousand  dollars, 
which,  with  the  interest,  and  the  above  stated  advan- 
ces and  interest,  for  the  family,  has  brought  the  foot 
of  my  account,  after  giving  credit  for  all  monies  received, 
to  above  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  thousand  dollars. 

By  the  declaration  of  these  young  men  in  their  pam- 
phlet, it  appears  that  the  concerns  of  their  father  were 
occasionally  the  subject  of  conversation  between  myself 
and  them,  and  that  I  uniformly  stated  to  them,  that  un- 
less a  compromise  could  be  affected  between  the  United 
States,  and  the  Georgia  purchasers,  my  claims  upon  the 
estate,  and  for  which  I  had  satisfactory  vouchers,  would 
absorb  the  whole  property;  but  they  go  further,  and 
say,  and  it  is  made  the  foundation  of  one  of  their  charges 
against  me,  that  I  also  added,  if  this  claim  could  be  com- 
promised they  would  realize  something  from  the  estate 
of  their  father ;  and  at  another  time,  if  the  Georgia  lands 
come  to  any  thing,  there  would  probably  be  something 
considerable  left  them.  I  do  not  recollect  having  made 
these  declarations ;  several  years  have  elapsed  by  their 
own  statement,  since  they  were  made ;  nor  do  I  think  it 


necessary  to  deny  them ;  nay,  I  think  it  possible,  even 
probable,  that  some  time  since  I  may  have  expressed 
hopes  that  I  might  realize  more  than  the  property  stood 
me  in,  and  in  such  an  event  that  the  estate  would  receive 
the  surplus  from  me.  These  hopes  naturally  grew  out 
of  the  situation  of  the  property ;  but  when  I  saw  how 
long  the  settlement  of  the  Georgia  business  was  likely 
to  be  protracted,  and  considered  the  accumulating  inter- 
est and  the  depressed  state  of  the  Missisippi  stock,  I 
knew  that  all  the  property  could  not  fetch  nearly  as 
much  as  it  stood  me  in,  arid  informed  them  of  it.  I  did 
not  make  to  them  these  representations  for  the  purpose 
of  deceiving  or  quieting  them:  I  had  nothing  to  fear,  I 
was  not  in  their  power,  and  I  was  in  the  same  breath 
telling  them  that  all  the  property  was  absorbed.  And 
must  not  the  fulfilling  of  my  expectations  depend  upon 
the  time  when,  and  the  manner  in  which  these  claims 
were  settled  ?  Has  not  the  time  been  extended  beyond 
the  expectation  of  every  single  individual  concerned  ? 
Have  riot  twenty  years  elapsed  between  the  purchase 
and  the  compromise  ?  If  the  demand  against  the  prop- 
erty exists,  interest  is  daily  accruing.  Will  it  make  no 
difference,  whether  the  compromise  is  made  in  five  or  in 
twenty  years  ?  As  to  the  manner  also,  was  it  not  the 
rcasonaule  expectation  of  all  parties  that,  if  the  United 
States  assumed  it  in  any  way,  they  would  at  least  give 
an  indemnity?  If  the  claim  was  just  in  principle,  it  was 
wholly  so,  not  in  part  only.  Have  they  done  so  ?  Cer- 
tainly not;  for  what  cost  Mr.  Barrell  twenty  five  cents, 
ten  only  have  been  obtained  from  tne  Government,  and 
that  in  certificates,  which  will  command  in  the  market 
now,  from  forty-three  to  forty-six  cents  only  in  the  dol- 
lar. Under  these  circumstances,  can  there  be  a  human 
being  that  would  criminate  me  for  having  been  mistaken  ? 
The  truth  however  is,  that  I  now  am  of  the  opinion,  that 
if  the  compromise  had  been  made  in  any  reasonable 
time,  and  full  indemnity  had  been  received,  I  should  have 
realized  more  than  the  amount  of  my  expenditures  and 
the  accumulated  interest ;  in  which  case  I  should  have 
applied  the  surplus  to  the  benefit  of  the  estate.  That  it 
has  not  been  so,-  is  surely  not  my  fault,  though  I  much 


Vegret  it.  Every  thing  which  I  could  do  to  obtain  a 
just  indemnity  I  have  done,  at  a  great  expense  of  time 
and  money,  and  the  sacrifice  of  domestic  enjoyments. 
But  after  all,  where  is  the  injury  done  the  Messrs.  Bar- 
rells  by  me  ?  If  they  bring  those  conversations  in  evidence 
of  the  falsity  of  my  accounts,  and  prove  them  so,  they 
may  then  complain  of  me ;  but  if  my  statement,  after 
examination  and  proof,  amounts  to  more  than  the  whole 
value  of  the  property  received,  where  can  the  injury 
arise  to  tSiem  from  my  having  so  said  ?  If  I  have  wound- 
ed their  feelings  by  those  expressions,  surely  there  is  no 
blame,  unless  done  intentionally ;  and  they,  even  they 
I  hope,  would  not  in  this  instance  charge  me  with  such 
a  design. 

A  second  charge  of  these  young  men  is,  that  I  did  not 
sell,  in  1806,  the  Pleasant  Hill  farm,  seventy  seven 
shares  in  the  Middlesex  Canal;,  the  eastern  lands,  -and 
Ohio  shares.  That  if  I  had,  they  would  have  principally, 
if  not  wholly,  discharged  my  debt.  This  is  not  true  in 
any  part  of  it.  If  I  had  then  sold  this  property,  with  the 
Georgia  lands  included,  and  all  the  remaining  property 
which  I  had  of  Mr.  Barrel!,  they  would  not  have  brought 
what  they  stood  me  in ;  and  the  large  sums  for  which  I 
was  responsible  to  Jones,  Jelfery  and  Russell,  and  oth- 
ers, on  Mr.  Barrell's  account,  by  many  thousand  dollars. 
The  real  truth  however  is,  that  they  never  ^ould  have 
been  sold,  but  at  a  very  great  sacrifice.  The  Pleasant 
Hill  farm  had  cost  Mr.  Barrell  about  forty  eight  thousand 
dollars,  and  I  appeal  to  any  gentleman,  acquainted  with 
the  price  of  real  estate  and  country  establishments, 
whether  at  any  time  from  his  death  to  the  present  day 
it  would  have  produced  half  its  cost.  There  was  a 
prospect  of  its  being  connected  by  a  bridge  with  this 
towrn,  and  I  was  reluctant  at  making  such  a  sacrifice 
while  there  were  hopes  of  its  being  effected.  The  Ca- 
nal shares  were  in  a  worse  situation.  They  would  not 
have  commanded  four  shillings  in  the  pound  of  their 
cost.  In  regard  to  those  shares  I  did  as  all  the  respec- 
table large  proprietors  in  that  corporation  did.  If  I  had 
sold  the  one  or  the  other  at  the  current  value,  and 
2 


10 

they  had  afterwards  arisen  considerably  I  should  have 
been  charged  with  sacrificing  the  property  for  my  own 
convenience  and  relief,  and  destroying  any  possibility  of 
the  estates  being  benefited  by  any  after  increase  of  its 
value,  and  I  should  have  heard  much  more  upon  this 
subject.  As  to  the  Eastern  and  Ohio  Lands,  my  attor- 
nies  have  always  had  a  power  to  sell  them,  but  they 
never  have  been  able  to  execute  that  power  but  to  a 
very  small  extent;  nor  have  any  persons  holding  the 
same  kind  of  property  more  than  myself  been  able  to 
dispose  of  theirs.  If  I  could  have  sold  the  estates  and 
discharged  my  demands,  it  certainly  would  have  been  for 
my  interest  so  to  have  done.  I  knew  very  well  that  there 
was  a  deficiency,  and  I  had  reason  to  hope  that  by  defer- 
ring the  sale  the  property  would  be  enhanced  in  value.* 
Mr.  Barrell,  some  years  before  his  death,  was  plea- 
santly situated  on  the  Pleasant  Hill  farm,  with  a  hand- 
some independent  property.  I  had  almost  said  in  the 
course  of  forty-eight  hours,  but  certainly  in  a  very  short 
compass  of  time,  as  though  his  mind  had  been  blotted 
out  forever,  and  a  perfect  delirium  had  succeeded  to  it,  he 
rushed  into  speculations  of  the  greatest  magnitude,  and 
did  not  desist,  until,  what  with  payments,  promises,  and 
notes  of  hand,  he  made  himself  responsible  for  a  sum 
exceeding  in  amount  much  more  than  double  what  he 
was  worth  in  the  world.  The  exhibit  for  all  these  spec- 
ulations was  a  property  consisting  of  French  estates, 
Virginia  lands,  Ohio  lands,  Eastern  lands,  Georgia  lands, 
Western  reserve  lands,  Middlesex  Canal  shares,  and 
shares  in  bridges,  from  all  which  property,  (except  for  the 
Western  reserve  lands,)  I  have  not  received  more  than 
three  thousand  three  hundred  dollars.f  At  the  com- 
mencement of  his  troubles,  which  soon  made  their  ap- 

*  It  will  be  seen  that  bv  my  not  disposing  of  the  property  at  that  time  for 
whatever  it  would  fetch,  I  risked  its  Jailing  in  value,  in  which  case  I  might  have 
gotten  still  less  of  -what  it  stood  me  in  ;  and  had  it  arisen  in  value,  with  my  de- 
clared intentions,  I  could  not  have  been  benefited  beyond  my  advances:  and  as 
the  whole  property  then  held  by  me,  certainly  would  not  have  Bold  for  sufficient 
to  have  reimbursed  me  for  such  advances,  and  have  paid  the  claims  of  Jones,  Jef- 
fery  and  Russell,  and  others,  my  not  selling  at  that  time  could  in  DO  way  injure 
Mr.  Barren's  family,  but  might  have  benefited  it. 

•{•  The  Messrs.  Barrells,  in  their  pamphlet,  would  impress  the  public  with  an 
idea  that  I  have  received  more  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars  from 


11 

pearance,  most  of  this  property  was  unsaleable.  Upon 
his  application  I  was,  from  my  connexion  in  the  family, 
induced  to  advance  the  money  to  extricate  him  from  his 
difficulties,  being  then  ignorant  of  their  extent,  and  final- 
ly obliged  to  become  the  owner  of  all  these  ruinous,  de- 
structive, miserable  purchases,  I  trust  there  are  few 
who  will  say,  that  I  could  have  sold  them ;  there  are 
still  fewer,  who  will  say  that  I  should  not  have  sold 
thera,  if  it  had  been  possible  to  have  done  it  to  any  ad- 
vantage. If  I  had  sold  the  whole  property,  its  avails 
would  not  have  indemnified  me ;  notwithstanding  which, 
I  continued  my  advances  for  the  family.  The  property 
was  my  own,  and  I  endeavoured  to  use  my  best  discre- 
tion and  judgment  in  the  management  of  it. 

These  young  men,  removing  every  the  smallest  peb- 
ble in  the  street,  in  the  fond  hope  of  finding  some  weapon 
of  destruction,  have  thought  proper  to  make  another 
charge  against  me,  respecting  some  wine  of  their  father's. 
If  I  had  not  prescribed  to  my  temper  and  feelings  a  dif- 
ferent course,  I  should  call  this  a  pitiful  charge.  The 
answer  I  have  to  make  is,  that  this  purchase  was  in 
pursuance  of  their  own  desire,  as  will  appear  by  the  fol- 
lowing certificate,  and  at  an  appraisement  by  order  of  the 
Judge  of  Probate,  which  I  undertake  to  say  was  fifty  per 
cent,  higher  for  the  Madeira  wine  than  any  Madeira  wine 
of  any  age  or  description  was  selling  for  at  that  time  in 
the  different  wine  stores  of  this  town.* 

Copy  of  the  Request  of  the  Legatees  of  Mr.  J.  Barrett  to 

B.Joy. 

The  subscribers,  heirs  and  legatees  of  the  late  Joseph 
Barrell,  Esq.  wishing,  from  motives  of  delicacy,  and  from 

the  Georgia  speculation  only ;  though  they  knew  when  they  made  their  state- 
ment, that,  in  consequence  of  disputed  titles,  I  could  not  have  received,  on  that 
account,  but  about  one  hundred  thotiSKiul  dollars  in  Missisippi  stock,  exclusive  of 
that  claimed  by  Jones,  Jeffrey  and  liusfell,  the  greater  part  of  which,  after  a  long 
contest  in  law,  was  received  in  May  last ;  and  they  also  knew,  that  that  stork  was 
not  then  worth  in  the  market,  more  than  foity  cents  in  the  dollar  ;  none  of  which 
stock  is  yet  sold. 

*  They  have  misrepresented  the  quantity  of  wine  by  more  than  one  eighth 
part;  and  many  of  the  other  articles  mentioned  in  the  request,  and  which  are 
not  inconsiderable,  the  signers  look  to  themselves ;  anil  I  am  now  accountable  for 
them  at  the  Probate  office,  though  they  make  no  part  of  my  present  charge 
against  them. 


12 

respect  and  attachment  to  his  memory,  to  prevent  a  pub- 
lic sale  of  the  wines,  liquors,  books,  family  pictures,  and 
particular  pieces  of  plate,  are  desirous  that  you  would 
prevent  it  by  taking  those  articles  at  the  prices  affixed 
to  them  by  the  gentlemen  appointed  by  the  Judge  of 
Probate  to  appraise  the  property  he  left. 

Signed,     SARAH  BARRELL, 
BENJ.  JOY,  Esq.  CHARLES  BARRELL, 

HENRY  F.  BARRELL, 
Boston,  May  1,  1805.  GEORGE  BARRELL. 

With  respect  to  compound  interest,  I  would  make  the 
following  observations  :  That  it  is  the  practice  of  the 
mercantile  world  to  make  up  their  accounts  annually  j 
that  it  is  no  more  than  a  fair  indemnity,  and  that  for  ma- 
ny years  past,  and  at  this  moment,  1  am  indebted  to  the 
Bank,  for  monies  on  account  of  this  concern  solely,  where 
I  am  obliged  to  pay  the  interest  upon  the  sums  every 
sixty  days.  I  have,  however,  not  uniformly,  in  my  state-* 
ment,  compounded  the  interest ;  in  all  cases  where  1  have 
made  sales  and  received  payments,  I  have  substracted 
those  payments,  yearly,  from  the  foot  of  it.  It  would  be 
extremely  unjust,  in  my  estimation,  where  one  person  is 
indebted  to  another  and  a  payment  is  made,  that  that 
payment  should  be  taken  from  the  principal,  when  there 
is  more  interest  due,  at  the  time,  than  the  payment 
amounts  to.  Where  there  have  no  sums  of  any  conse- 
quence been  received,  during  the  year,  the  statement  pro- 
ceeds on  simple  interest.  This,  however,  I  do  assure  the 
public,  is  merely  a  question  of  propriety  and  justice,  for 
was  the  wliole  amount  of  compound  interest  removed,  all 
the  property,  which  remains,  of  that  which  Mr.  Barrell 
conveyed  to  me,  would  not  be  sufficient  to  indemnify  me, 
by  many  thousands  of  dollars.  But  I  do  not  give  up  the 
principle,  or  the  right  of  thus  estimating  interest. 

I  will  now  make  a  few  observations  on  the  remaining 
charge  in  the  pamphlet,  which  is  the  procrastination  of 
my  statement.  November  last,  it  seems,  by  their  declara- 
tion, was  the  time  they  applied  to  me  for  this  paper.  I 
"was  then  much  engaged  in  preparing  for  my  departure 


13 

for  Washington.     It  may  be  easily  conceived  that  I  had 

i  11  i 

many  concerns  to  attend  to,  and  but  a  short  time  to  give 

to  them ;  that  it  was  not  an  easy  thing,  at  that  moment, 
to  take  an  abstract,  and  make  out  a  formal  account,  of 
the  transactions  of  twenty  years  standing.  I  was  then 
going  to  Washington,  not  in  my  own  behalf  only,  but  as 
an  agent  for  the  New  England  Missisippi  Land  Compa- 
ny, and  many  persons  concerned  in  the  Georgia  purcha- 
ses, and  particularly  those  claims  which  were  formerly 
Mr.  Barrell's.  I  had  persons  constantly  calling  on  me, 
and  was  obliged  to  leave  town  early  in  December,  to  be 
at  Washington  in  season.  I  well  knew,  also,  that  these 
young  men  had  no  demand  on  me  ;  that  the  property  I 
had  been  conducting  was  my  own,  and  that  I  was  re- 
sponsible only  to  myself  for  its  management.  My  inter- 
est called  upon  me  strongly  to  do  the  best  I  could  with 
it.  The  only  motive  that  could  possibly  offer  itself  to 
me  to  give  them  any  statement  at  all,  was  to  support  and 
maintain  the  integrity  of  my  character,  and  the  upright- 
ness of  my  views.  Should  there  be  any  delay,  therefore, 
in  giving  that  statement,  it  was  at  my  own  peril,  and  not 
to  their  injury,  as  I  knew  it  could  make  no  difference  to 
them.  They  had  no  pecuniary  demand  upon  me,  and  I 
knew,  in  the  event  of  a  full  examination,  they  never  could 
have.  I,  however,  as  well  as  I  could,  to  comply  with 
their  wishes,  immediately  set  about  it,  and  drew  one  out 
sufficiently  particular  to  give  them  a  knowledge  of  the 
facts.  It  is  true,  as  they  say,  that  I  began  with  the  sum 
of  fifty-eight  thousand  nine  hundred  dollars,  but  it  was 
because  their  own  father,  in  his  books,  and  in  his  hand- 
writing, shows  that  sum  due  to  me  at  that  time.  As  I 
was  in  great  haste,  and  as  these  young  men  had  been 
very  imperious  and  formal  in  their  application,  I  was  loath 
to  hand  over  this  statement,  thus  drafted,  to  their  custo- 
dy. I  did  not  chuse  to  be  bound  by  it ;  but  that  they 
might  see  it,  and  examine  it,  that  they  might  be  informed 
of  the  truth  of  what  I  had  stated  to  them,  I  sent  it  to  Mr. 
Snow,  a  friend  of  the  family,  with  a  letter,  in  which  I  ex- 
press my  wish  that  it  might  be  shewn  to  the  Messrs. 


14 

Barretts;  but  as  it  was  hastily  drawn  up*  and  not  alto- 
gether perfect,  I  desired  that  no  authenticated  copy  ot'  it 
should  be  taken.  Of  this  I  informed  the  Messrs.  Bar- 
relFs,  by  a  letter  to  Henry  F.  Barrell,  in  which  I  gave 
hun  my  reasons  for  so  doing.  This  statement  they  fre- 
quently saw  and  particularly  examined,  as  they  acknow- 
ledge in  the  postscript  to  their  letter  of  January,  and  from 
it  made  such  extracts  as  they  saw  fit.  Now  I  here  aver, 
that,  as  SOOD  after  they  made  their  request  as  I  could, 
consistently  with  my  other  pressing  occupations,  I  did 
thus  lay  before  them  this  statement,  for  their  examination, 
which  gives  them  a  complete  knowledge  of  my  concerns, 
with  these  checks  only,  that,  through  tear  of  omissions  in 
the  hurry  in  which  it  had  been  made,  it  should  not,  in  fu- 
ture, be  brought  against  me.  It  was  not  a  general  ac- 
count ;  on  the  contrary,  it  was  a  statement  of  every  item 
and  every  charge,  and  every  credit,  for  the  period  of 
Dearly  twenty  years ;  and,  after  a  re-examination,  I  find 
very  trifling  omissions,  and  very  little  difference  from  my 
present  statement,  except  in  regard  to  bank  interest, 
which,  in  this  last,  I  have  not  estimated,  although  I  have 
just  claims  to  it. 

What  then  is  the  next  step  taken  ?  Why,  these  young 
men  sit  down  and  write  a  letter  to  me,  at  Washington, 
protesting  against  all  parts  of  my  conduct,  misrepresent- 
ing facts,  abusing  Mrs.  Joy  and  myself,  and  loading  us 
both  with  the  grossest  calumny,  and  tmally  declaring  that, 
unless  I  would  agree  to  leave  all  disputes,  and  all  my 
transactions  and  conduct  to  three  impartial  men,  in  twen- 
ty-one days  from  its  date  they  would  publish  to  the  world 
their  grievances  and  my  refusal.  My  answer  is  annexed 
to  then*  pamphlet,  except  that  thev  leave  Mrs.  Joy's  name 
out  of  it  1  did  not  return  to  Boston  until  the  last  of 
May,  and  was,  to  their  knowledge,  preparing,  as  I  prom- 
ised, a  full  and  accurate  statement  for  their  inspection, 
when  their  pamphlet  made  its  appearance,  and  to  which 
I  long  hesitated  whether  or  not  to  reply. 

*  TbOTgh  it  appears  k  is  easy  to  make  charges  ami  unsupported  assertions, 
yet  •meii  liiae  i>  n-jiired  to  make  a  true  statement  of  treaty  jean  tratr>act;c  • 


15 

Having  gone  through  the  several  charges  in  this  pam- 
phlet, 1  now  solicit  attention  to  a  few  prominent  features 
in  this  concern.  When  I  first  entered  into  this  connex- 
ion with  Mr.  Barrell.  I  was  an  independent  man,  without 
owing  a  dollar  to  any  person.  In  consequence  of 
advances  on  account  of  this  property.  I  have  been  oblig- 
ed to  he  a  constant  applicant  to  banks  for  assistance,  pay- 
ing the  interest  upon  my  notes  every  sixty  days.  My 
advance^  increased  so  rapidly  that,  at  the  time  of  the 
conveyance  of  his  property  to  me,  the  whole  of  it  then 
conveyed,  would  not,  if  sold,  produce  a  sum  equal  to  these 
advances,  and  my  engagements  for  his  account;  neither 
would  it  at  the  time  of  his  death ;  neither  would  it,  as  the 
Georgia  claims  have  turned  out,  at  any  period  from  that 
time  to  the  present  moment. 

At  Mr.  barrell's  death  he  left  a  famfly  of  twelve  in 
number,  destitute,  and  though  I  well  knew  my  situation 
at  the  time,  I  did  not  desert  them,  but  pro  video  for  every 
one  of  them,  as  occasion  required  :  mauy  of  them  I  have 
exclusively  supported  to  the  present  hour,  and  all  of  them 
partially.  For  the  last  seventeen  years  I  have  been  prin- 
cipally employed  in  the  management  of  those  concerns, 
and  providing  for  the  education  and  support  of  this  nume- 
rous family,  for  the  trouble  of  which  I  have  charged  noth- 
ing, nor  for  the  time  which  his  children  have  lived  in  my 
tamily.  which  is  equal  to  nine  or  ten  years  board.  The 
vexations,  the  anxieties  and  sacrifices  of  feeling  incidental 
to  such  a  situation.  I  shall  not  detail ;  they  will  be  justly 
estimated  by  the  public.  Behold  my  reward ! — If  there  is 
any  person  after  reading  this  statement,  and  consulting  his 
understanding,  will  lay  his  hand  on  his  heart  and  con- 
scientiously say  he  would  have  done  more,  to  him  this 
appeal  is  not  addressed,  for  in  his  eyes  I  can  never  be 
justified ;  but  in  those  of  all  others  I  presume  and  hope 
I  shall. 

One  word  upon  the  subject  of  a  reference.  I  would 
now  say  that  the  statement  of  my  advances  with 
interest,  which  till  now  I  have  not  been  able  to  prepare, 
and  for  which  I  have  satisfactory  proof,  amounts  to  the 
sum  of  above  one  hundred  and  ers4itv-four  thousand  dol- 


16 

lars;  that  it  has  always  been  my  intention  that  this  state- 
ment should  be  inspected,  examined,  and  proved  by  disin- 
terested persons,  as  my  letters  afld  declarations  will  shew  ; 
that  I  have  not  the  least  objection  to  leave  it  to  the  inves- 
tigation and  final  judgment  of  three  impartial  and  honora- 
ble men,  and  to  their  decision  upon  it  I  will  engage  to  abide 
with  cheerfulness.  With  the  same  cheerfulness  I  will  sub- 
mit to  those  gentlemen  for  their  judgment,  any  fraud,  any 
dishonesty,  or  any  want  of  integrity  of  conduct,  or  any 
wilful  intention  to  lesson  or  increase  the  property  for  my 
own  interest  to  the  exclusion  of  any  other  persons ;  but 
as  to  the  time  of  selling  or  not  selling  any  part  of  the 
property,  any  error  of  judgment  in  the  disposition  of  that 
property  at  any  time,  these  are  points  I  never  will  con- 
sent to  leave  to  the  decision  of  any  persons.  The  prop- 
erty was  duly  conveyed  to  me,  it  was  intended  to  be 
mine,  and  it  was  mine,  and  I  had  absolute  control  over  it ; 
the  sole  person  having  any  right  in  the  disposition  of  it, 
and  therefore  for  that  disposition  of  it,  or  for  no  disposi- 
tion of  it.  I  will  not  be  accountable  to  any  person  or  per- 
sons. My  assertions  will  be  duly  appreciated  when  I  say 
it  is  not  through  fear,  for  whether  trusted  with  proper- 
ty as  an  agent,  or  as  an  owner,  there  cannot  be  a  person 
on  earth,  who  would  hold  me  accountable  so  long  as  I 
acted  within  these  powers  for  a  mere  unintentional  error 
in  judgment;  but  the  principle  is  wrong,  and  I  shall  not 
submit  to  it.* 

In  conclusion  I  will  say,  that  if  the  Messrs.  Barrells, 
or  any  of  their  friends,  will  now  come  forward  and  pay 
me  the  amount  which  those  gentlemen  shall  determine 
to  have  been  expended  by  me  for  account  of  this  con- 
cern, and  the  interest  thereon;  also  the  amount  for 

•  Had  not  the  Messrs.  Bnrrells  have  had  some  sinister  design  in  endeavouring 
to  draw  from  me  a  written  promise  to  submit  my  conduct  in  relation  to  their 
father  s  affairs,  as  between  them  and  me,  to  arbitrators,  they  would  have  been 
satisfied  with  the  assurances  they  received,  that  I  should,  for  their  satisfaction, 
lay  before  them  a  statement  thereof,  and  submit  the  same  to  some  respectable 
gentlemen  for  examination  and  approval.  But  I  have  reason  to  believe  from  the 
whole  tenor  of  their  conduct,  that,  by  exciting  the  apprehensions  of  Mrs.  Jov  m 
my  absence,  and  endeavouring  to  intimidate  me  with  a  threat  to  publish  me  to 
the  world,  they  hoped  to  obtain  from  me,  in  their  cunning,  such  an  instrument, 
as  would  have  amounted  to  a  tacit  acknowledgment  of  their  right  to  call  me  to 
account,  as  an  agent  of  their  father,  which  I  totally  disavow. 


17 

which  I  am  answerable  on  account  of  Mr.  Barrell's  af- 
fairs; or  secure  the  whole  to  be  paid  to  me,  by  in- 
stalments, at  six,  twelve,  eighteen  and  twenty  four 
months  with  interest,  I  will  engage  to  convey  to  them 
every  item  of  property  that  I  received  from  their  father, 
for  which  I  do  not  account.  This,  however,  shall  not 
preclude  me  from  disposing  of  any  part,  or  parts,  of  the 
property,  as  I  shall  judge  best,  previous  to  tneir  making 
such  arrangement. 

Having,  from  a  sense  of  justice  to  my  character  and 
duty  to  my  family,  thus  stated  the  leading  facts  relative  to 
my  connexion  with  Mr.  Barrell  and  his  affairs,  I  shall  not, 
by  any  misrepresentations  or  abuse  from  the  authors  of 
the  pamphlet  to  which  this  is  a  reply,  be  induced  again 
to  trouble  the  public  on  the  subject,  for,  as  it  ever  has 
been,  so  it  now  is  my  determination,  to  place  the  docu- 
ments relative  to  this  concern  into  the  hands  of  some 
gentlemen  for  examination ;  on  thein  opinion  I  shall  rest 
lor  a  complete  justification  of  my  conduct. 

B.  JOY. 


ACCO  UNT,  alluded  to  in  the  foregoing  Statement,  of  the  monies 
disbursed  by  B  Joy,  for  the  sufifiort  of  the  different  members 
of  the  late  Josefih  Barrell,  Esg's.  family,  since  his  death. 

For  the  Widow  Sarah  Barrell  §2443.  Interest  on  do.  §907,  amounts  to  3350  dols. 
For  Mrs  Electa  Barrell  and 

children, 3373.  do.  1186,  do.  4559  dola. 

For  Charles  Barrell,      .     .      .      343.  do.  343  dols. 

For  Henry  Barrell,    .     .     .      .    7'1.  do.  28,  do.  739  dols. 

For  George  Barrell,     ....      803.  do.  310,  do.  1113  dols. 

For  Samuel  B  Barrell,     .     .    .  2742.  do.  990,  do,  3732  dols. 

For  John  C.  Barrell 817.  do.  284,  do.  1 10 1  dols. 

For  Thomas  B.  Barrell,     .      .      1656.  do.  592,  do.  2248  dols. 

Amount  of  suras  paid,  for  ?«12«M    Simple  In-  ?  054097  Whole  7 
which  1  hare  accounts.  $&U888-  terestoado.5*4297'    amt. 5 


A  A      000150652    6 


